‘The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ (v4) 2 Corinthians 4:1–6
The best of intentions is subject to sabotage, often by our own hand. Simply responding to Jesus is a great first step into a life subject to constant change – but only ever a first step.
We are all used to seeing bright sunshine suddenly obscured by passing clouds. So with us. We feel full of God’s Spirit and then darkness engulfs us; we struggle and fall. This is the nature of growing into maturity in Christ. The perennial question remains; how much do we want Jesus?
The god of this age hasn’t taken a holiday since the terminal setback of Christ’s resurrection. He’s a stalker, and we are the prey (1 Pet. 5:8–9). So there are times when God tests our resolve to follow and our capacity to love and trust God. This builds spiritual resilience and adaptation. We are to work at building this as we go in search of our God of glory.
We walk along many valleys beneath the shadow of death and, although intimidated, we must choose to fight for and lay hold of all we need from God. Resisting wrongdoing, and deliberately saying yes to God, we can adopt a new song affirming our confidence in God; ‘You are the way when there seems to be no way, we trust in You, God, You alone have the final say’.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Ezek. 37:1–14; Rom. 7:7–8:4; 2 Cor. 4:7–18; Rev. 3:14–22.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: Life is demanding and subject to setbacks that shake us to our core. We are to look to God who told us to pray and mountains will move (Mark 11:22–25).
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, bright as the morning star. Jesus, how can I tell You how beautiful You are to me? Jesus, song that the angels sing. Jesus, dearer to my heart than anything.’ I surrender afresh to Your love today. Amen.’
